Stories | When Saturday Comes

Standing back

If fans want to enjoy football on their feet and can do safely, there is no need for draconian stewarding, says Michael Glenister

Travelling fans who hanker after standing areas in the all-seat era often mutter bitterly before grudgingly taking their seat. Around a hundred Cardiff City fans defied this habit and took part in a boycott of the closing stages of their fixture at Leeds United on October 30. Their gripe seems to have focused on the ejection of a number of their fellow supporters for persistent standing. At £36 a ticket, it is easy to see why Cardiff fans may have felt aggrieved that they were not allowed to enjoy the game standing up.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Everton 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

Goodison Park was once a place ahead of its time but, as Simon Hart reports, the rebranded “Old Lady” is now a meeting place for disgruntled supporters frustrated by their club’s decline

Step into the parish hall of St Luke the Evangelist church on the corner of Goodison Road and Gwladys Street, and you enter a world that could not be any further removed from the ad-man’s fantasy of the face-painted, replica-shirted modern “footy” fan and their agony-and-ecstasy matchday experience.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - The Archive

Forever young

James Morris looks back on Dario Grado’s 26 years in management at Crewe Alexandra, as he steps aside to oversee the youth academy

Dario Gradi was not exactly a stranger to the experience of Crewe Alexandra fans calling for his head. Absurd as it sounds now, with the club currently sat in League Two, chants of “we want Gradi out” were doing the rounds even when the club was punching way above its weight in the Championship.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

The McFall guy

Alex Gulrajani looks at Portadown boss Ronnie McFall, another manager celebrating 25 successful years at one club

Ronnie McFall became the manager of Portadown in December 1986. He is still there 25 years later. A title-winner as a player and manager with Glentoran, the 38-year-old arrived with his hometown club bottom of the Irish League. A quarter of a century on, everything has changed. “I remember that first day well,” McFall recalls. “When I arrived at training, there was only about six or seven lads there. The first thought I had was ‘What have I done?’ The club needed restructuring from head to toe. We had no youth set-up and were rock bottom of the league. Everything had to be rebuilt.”

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - Book reviews

National disservice

Playing for your country is the peak for most footballers but, as Steve Menary points out, it can come at a cost for lower-league players

For players in the lower leagues, pursuing an international career is a real gamble. The latest international calendar allows for 19 matches over a two-year period ending in 2012. With no automatic suspension of games in the lower divisions, players going on international duty risk losing their place at their clubs.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 - The Archive